


Sunshine

by Hellas_himself



Series: The Elriel Holiday Au [3]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: Elriel, elriel holiday playlist, holiday au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21926293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hellas_himself/pseuds/Hellas_himself
Summary: Sunshineby Sia
Relationships: Andromache/Morrigan (ACoTaR), Elain Archeron/Azriel, Feyre Archeron/Rhysand/Lucien Vanserra, Nesta Archeron/Cassian
Series: The Elriel Holiday Au [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1571347
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	Sunshine

Everyone was under the assumption that Azriel hated Christmas. It wasn’t that he hated the holidays, but he hated being around large groups of strangers- as he was right now. He hated having to find one of his friends to stay in their orbit long enough to maintain some semblance of calm- as he had been doing until Cassian saw some girl and disappeared into the crowd. He loved Rhys, that smug bastard currently showing his fiancé off to his coworkers by the champagne tower. He loved that man more than his own biological brothers- and maybe that’s why he forced himself to suffer these events. He had no family without Rhys, without Cassian.

He’d come to truly care about Feyre, Rhysand’s fiancé. She was one of the few people Azriel felt like he could truly be himself around. Her eldest sister, Nesta, she was by far one of the most difficult women he knew. But he respected her and couldn’t lie that he enjoyed seeing her put Cassian in his place. He saw her currently sweet talking some clients and boy, did he feel bad for them. They’d walk away with their tails between their legs.

And then there was Elain- the middle sister. She’d had a boyfriend when Rhys met Feyre and so she’d been rather reserved whenever Rhys and Feyre brought everyone together. Except, Feyre hated Grayson as much as Nesta hated everyone, so Elain didn’t come around much… Until he’d left her. Az had never thought they’d be friends, but he’d called her to get some help in surprising Feyre with something and he realized she’d been crying. He had offered himself as a shoulder to cry on and the rest was history. 

Elain was an open book, at least with Azriel. And somehow, she’d made herself a very spacious place in his heart. What was that saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder? Elain lived on the other side of the country, far away from her sisters. She had stayed there even after their dad had died and visited- sometimes. Their relationship had gone from texts to phone calls to video chats. He talked to Elain more than he talked to his best friends who lived in the same zip code.

He heard someone scream, and followed the sound to find Nesta being thrown over Cassian’s shoulders as he walked off to the balcony. Az sighed. No one knew how or when it had happened but one day, Nesta and Cassian were ready to slit each other’s throats and the next- Cas was talking about marrying the girl.

No, Az didn’t hate Christmas. He just hated how he felt every year around this time of year. It was as if someone had shut the light off, as if everything were grey. Except when Elain was around. Even just talking to her, it was like she’d flipped the switch, as if she’d let the sun shine through long enough for him to breathe. He hated that she wasn’t here.

Miraculously, Az survived the company Christmas party and forced himself to go to Morrigan’s place for the _family’s_ Christmas party. It was a costume party, as far as he recalled, but if she expected him to actually dress up- she’d be sorely disappointed. Az was waiting for everyone in the lobby and actually smiled. Feyre looked like Peter Pan, except, her hat had elf ears. Rhys somehow made a Belsnickel costume look suave while Cas looked like a damned barbarian. Nesta matched her sister in all but color, where Feyre was green, Nesta was red.

“Really?” Cas said, looking at Az still in his black dress shirt and pants.

“Really, what?”

“What are you supposed to be?”

“Your designated driver,” Az spat and reminded himself that Feyre had wanted him to be there. For her, he’d do it for her and then he’d go home and call Elain and tell her all about it.

Mor lived with her girlfriend, Andromache, and the two greeted them at the door dressed as Mr. and Mrs. Claus. She made a face at him but still hugged him tight enough to break a rib. Amren was there with Varian, Kallias and Viviane, even Lucien was there. Rhysand’s ex-boyfriend absolutely adored Feyre- Az was surprised those three weren’t a thing yet. All of their friends were there, and even though it was loud and he knew they’d be shit faced before the night was done, Az knew he could sit this through.

Elain hadn’t answered his text and he wondered if he’d forgotten what she was doing today. But he couldn’t remember, and wouldn’t ask her sisters. They’d never let him hear the end of it. He followed the sound of Cassian’s loud voice- wherever Cas was, beer was sure to follow. But tonight, it was whiskey. With a shrug, Az poured himself a drink and went to sit in the very empty den. He could hear the girls screaming over the Christmas music that was playing in every room. He slouched in his seat and finished his drink.

“There he is.”

Azriel was actually startled and winced when the light was switched on. Elain stood under the archway, smiling. She was wearing a red crop top and a green tulle skirt with red and green leggings… and the elf slippers he’d sent her for Christmas. Her hair was up in pigtails, with red and green ribbon as curly as her hair. And she was holding… horns?

“Elain?”

She stepped into the den and Az got to his feet, meeting her half way. She threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her, standing to his full height which made her laugh.

“When did you get here?”

He noticed she was blushing.

“It’s been a while… I went to your place first. I forgot about tonight.”

“You should’ve called me, I would’ve picked you up.”

“And then we would have missed the work party and the Christmas party.”

He set her down on her feet, noticing that he now had red and green glitter on his shirt. He really didn’t care.

“That’s not true.”

She rolled her eyes. “Az, please. If it were up to us, we would not be here. But we are, so I brought you something.”

He raised a brow as she held out the horns, attached to a black head band.

“Nesta said Cassian and Rhys were going to be Belsnickels. I figured you should be their ring leader.”

Az took the horns from her and chuckled.

“I know you don’t dress up but… for me?”

He shrugged, and went to sit down. He held the horns out to her and the sound she made was worth whatever embarrassment he might feel once everyone saw him. He had his hands on her hips as she put the horns on him, messing with his hair until she was happy with it. Then, she took one of his hands and tugged until he stood up and let her lead him to the floor to ceiling mirror in front of the gold and crystal accent table. The horns twisted back a bit and he had to admit, it wasn’t bad.

“You actually look kinda hot,” she said, crossing her arms as she looked at him. He realized he was blushing.

“Thanks?”

She nudged him with her elbow.

“I’m serious. Now come on, Rhys and Cassian think they’re hot shit. Wait until everyone sees you.”

Az was certain that the quota for pictures in a year had been complete that night. Rhys and Cas had lost their shit when Elain walked out with Az because of the horns. Her sisters, her girlfriends- they lost their shit because Elain had been holding his hand the entire time. He was still seeing spots from all the flash. Elain cackled when he’d said as much. But he took every picture she requested. He danced to every cheesy Christmas song she loved- which was almost all of them. Elain never left his side except when Nesta and Feyre dragged her off to sing with Mor and Viviane. He leaned against the wall, watching her lip sing to some song he’d heard earlier that day. She was smiling, dancing in perfect time to the song. They looked like a girl band, honestly. He smiled and Elain looked his way and then it was as if she were singing to him.

“So, the Scrooge _does_ like Christmas,” Cassian said, throwing an arm around Azriel’s shoulder.

“Shut up,” he said. But he was still smiling, still looking at Elain. She was blushing but wouldn’t look away from him.

“The mistletoe is by the dining room,” Cas whispered, and before Az could hit him, he ran off to join Nesta and the girls.

Azriel asked Elain to dance after they’d stuffed their faces with cookies and shared a glass or two of Viviane’s spiked Wassail. And as the night began to come to its end, Elain took Azriel’s hand and led him out to the balcony. It was cold as hell, so he gave her his coat and grabbed another glass of Wassail.

“This was nice,” Elain said.

“It really was.”

“Thank you for indulging me. I don’t have anymore space on my phone for pictures,” she said with a laugh.

“I take it that’s a good thing.”

She nodded, shoving her hands in the pockets of his coat.

“How long are you here for?”

“About that,” she said softly. “I’m moving back.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… But I haven’t told the girls yet. They’ll want me to come stay with them and I know Cas just moved in with Nesta. I don’t want to bother them.”

“So where will you be staying?”

“Well, since I’m Lucien’s best, best friend, his parents sent me the key to the brownstone they never stay in. And Lucien’s mom wants me to come work with her so that my only worry will be how I spend my free time,” she said and laughed. “That’s seriously how she said it.”

Azriel was at a loss for words.

“And the best part is,” she said as she leaned into him, “I’ll be closer to you now.”

“That’s the best part?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? I love being with you. And being so far away really sucked.”

“Yeah, it did.”

“Did you miss me?” she asked in a teasing voice as if she didn’t know the answer to that question.

“Every day, El.”

“Now you’ll get sick of me,” she said with a laugh.

“Never.”

“I’m not always drinking Wassail and dancing to Christmas songs, you know.”

“And I’m not always drinking Wassail and actually socializing.”

“What if I need you all the time?”

“Then I’ll make you a copy of my apartment key. You can come over whenever you want,” he said, putting an arm around her. “Or I’ll just go to you, whatever you want.”

“Maybe I’ll just move in with you.”

“You know, El, I like that idea better than you staying at Helion’s place.”

“Hm… I’ll think about it.”

“Good.” He kissed the top of her hair.

Elain gave him a quick squeeze.

“Come on, Krampus. I can’t feel my toes.”

Azriel laughed, following her back inside.

**Author's Note:**

> Sunshine by Sia


End file.
